InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Fate of Love ❯ Whispered Truths ( Chapter 6 )

Nikki Kelly

Disclaimer: The magnificent world of Inu Yasha is the sole creative masterpiece of Rumiko Takahashi ~ NOT ME!!!

A/N: Another blah...blah...blah chapter, but I think there's some things that need to be explained a little bit...or maybe I'm just being repetitive.....

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Chapter Six ~ Whispered Truths

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Kagome put her hands to her face in alarm, not knowing what to do. She looked over for some assistance, but Miroku, Sango, and Shippou were all staring hard at the ground in silence. She realized that none of them knew how to reply to Inuyasha; that somewhere, in the backs of their minds, they couldn't help the voices that agreed with him. She brushed the hair off of her face in distress, and bit her lip hard. Taking a deep breath, she stepped towards the hanyou and placed a hand softly on his shoulder.

Inuyasha growled and grabbed her fiercely by the wrist, twisting it so hard that it caused Kagome to yelp. He threw down her hand and backed slowly away from the group. "I'm going away for awhile...don't wait for me," he said resolutely, then, glaring viciously at Kagome, added, "And don't follow me." Without looking back, he flew up into the sky. Kagome watched him go, the tears pouring down her face, her eyes following her hanyou steadfastly until he disappeared from sight.

She turned her head down sadly, knowing she was the cause of his pain. Her whole body trembled as her slow tears turned into unbridled sobs, and she fell to her knees. She grabbed at the earth hard with her hands, needing to release her frustration somehow. Inuyasha's bitter words still echoed in her head. `She squandered it on bringing a useless half-breed like me back to life!' Kagome realized all the pain he felt by living his life as a hanyou; all the loathing he had for himself. He wanted a way out. He wanted to end all the pain. And I denied him that. I forever denied him that freedom. What have I done? She let out a cry of agony, pressing her head into her hands.

Shippou touched her arm slightly, and she looked up at him with her dirt-smeared face. His eyes were swamped with sympathy, and she took him up into her arms. Kagome squeezed him so tight that he should have cried out, but he didn't. He wanted her to release all of her pain, and she knew it. After a few moments, her weeping softened, and she released her hold on him. He looked up at her with big, worried eyes. "Are you okay, Kagome?"

She sighed. "I'm better. Thank you, Shippou. I needed that." She gave him one last squeeze then stood back up on shaking legs. Miroku and Sango were both looking at her with cautious eyes, and she tried to reassure them by giving a weak smile.

Sango approached her slowly, and took up her hand in her own. "Let's go back to the village Kagome-chan."

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Kaede's small hut always provided Kagome with a sense of security that she didn't feel anywhere else in the world of feudal Japan, well, except for in Inuyasha's arms. She snuggled down cozily on one of the mats the kindly old woman had provided her with, and listened to the muffled conversation the others were having in the next room.

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"Is she asleep?" Sango asked Kaede as she returned to the room quietly.

"Aye, child, I believe she does sleep. She looked mighty worn out," she replied softly, setting herself down on the floor to face the others.

"She has reason to," Miroku added, the concern showing plainly in his face as he looked towards her room. He turned back, "Kagome went through a lot today; more then she's willing to share, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I think so too. She and Inuyasha seemed different when they came back," Shippou said thoughtfully, and then his expression turned stern. "He better not of hurt her."

"Somehow I doubt that Shippou-chan. I think just the opposite happened. Inuyasha and Kagome had a new sort of tension between them, the kind that comes with love," Sango countered softly.

"Well that's not really our place to judge; none of us were wherever they were, so we really don't know what happened. The more important question, I think, is what actually happened out there on that battlefield," Miroku interjected, his face serious.

"It was exactly the question I have pondered," Kaede agreed. "None of ye hast told me yet what hath transpired."

"Well, we finally caught up with Naraku, and with all his underlings gone, he had no choice but to fight us face to face." Miroku explained. "Sesshoumaru and Kouga were there as well, and we all attacked him simultaneously."

"Except for me and Kagome," Shippou cut him off. "Inuyasha told her to stay out of the way as always, and of course she made me stay with her." The kitsune actually looked slightly disappointed about his lack of participation in the battle.

Miroku ignored his impoliteness and continued. "He was just too strong though. He had almost the entire Shikon jewel in his possession. He took us out one by one, as if he had a system to it all. Oddly enough, he attacked Inuyasha last; but even he was no match for Naraku. He drove my fallen staff right through him."

"But why doth he still live? Surely Naraku's blow would hath been enough to slay him," Kaede asked, a slightly puzzled expression on her normally tranquil face.

"Yes, and that's where it gets interesting. You see, Naraku was just about to finish off Inuyasha, when Kikyou appeared." Miroku's eyes widened slightly with remembrance, and he rubbed his newly whole right hand absently.

"My sister, Kikyou?" Kaede breathed sharply, leaning forward in astonishment.

Miroku nodded solemnly, and continued, his voice utterly void of emotion, "She shot Naraku at the source of his power with her arrow. It must have had some sort of incantation on it because it began to burn him from the inside out. She ordered Kagome to remove the jewel from him and she did."

"But that's when Kikyou turned evil!" Shippou shouted in an angry cry.

Miroku shot him a glare and the fox-cub crawled behind Sango in embarrassment. "Kikyou demanded that Kagome give her the jewel and allow her to return to hell...with Inuyasha."

"Tis in such a sorry state, my sister's soul." Kaede bowed her head in sadness.

Miroku hesitated slightly before continuing. "Kagome was defiant, and denied Kikyou her command. Kikyou was enraged and she shot an arrow directly at her."

Kaede gasped, "My sister never would hath committed such an atrocity. Only evil lay in her now."

"The arrow would have hit her straight through, so good was her shot, but Inuyasha blocked it with his own body. It was the final blow his body could take, and he died not a moment after."

"But did ye not say that Inuyasha lives? I understand not still." The confusion was now plain on her face.

"He does, and that is one of the things we do not completely understand, Kaede-sama," Sango replied gently. "We saw Kagome-chan scream to the heavens with all her might, and a purple aura left Kikyou and surrounded Kagome-chan and Inuyasha. Then Kikyou fell to the ground and was nothing more than dust, and Kagome-chan and Inuyasha disappeared."

"So my sister lives no longer. Finally she can rest in peace." Kaede's voice had the inkling of a regretful tone to it.

Miroku nodded again. "Yes, but still the mystery remains on the cause of her death. One does not simply fall into nothingness."

Kaede's expression turned pensive. "Methinks I may know the reason. Ye said that an aura left the body of my sister?"

They nodded in confirmation.

"Then what I have thought would happen all along hath transpired." She sighed heavily and went on, "My sister Kikyou hath been sustained all this time by her hatred of Inuyasha; a remnant of her soul that could not be swayed into normalcy. Kagome must have been able to finally transform that missing piece of her soul somehow, and called it forth from my sister's body."

"How did Kagome change it, though? Why didn't she do it long ago?" the monk questioned.

"Methinks it was in the moment that she saw Inuyasha leave the mortal world, that she realized her love for him. Her cry for a lost love, one that was pure and true, overcame the hatred the soul possessed." Kaede voice was strong and certain.

"If that is true, than Kagome would have her whole soul. She would be the most powerful miko in the world." Sango's voice held an element of awe.

"You have forgotten something. Kagome used the Shikon No Tama to bring Inuyasha back to life," Miroku pointed out.

"She used the Sacred Jewel?" Kaede asked with incredulously.

"She did. And by using it, she denied herself all that power, and became a normal human girl; nothing to protect, no power to draw on." Miroku finished sadly.

"Inuyasha knows well the sacrifice she made, and is none too happy about it. He believes she should have kept the jewel and used it to do something meaningful," Sango provided, then added solemnly, "He left us to be alone...and I don't know if he'll be coming back this time."

Kaede sighed heavily. "Inuyasha hath never been happy in this world. Yet I somehow feel myself agreeing with him. Would it not hath been better if Kagome used the jewel in some other way?"

The three nodded sadly and the monk spoke. "We have all been thinking the same thing..."

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Kagome could not stop the tears pouring from her eyes. She knew now what her friends truly thought of her decision, and she could not help but feel betrayed. She knew she had to find Inuyasha. That she had to explain why she had done what she did. So, without a second thought, she whipped off her blanket and quietly climbed out the window. She wandered aimlessly into the cool night, having only her love for the hanyou to guide her...

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To Be Continued...

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~~I told you this was going to be another blah chapter...heh...and it was my longest yet...I just wanted to make everything clear about what happened...maybe just refresh everyone's memories...hey!! They do it on the show too!!! ...anyways... I promise things will pick up a little in the next few chapters, and I'll try to have them up fairly soon...please review this chapter, or my entire story thus far.....w/e.....

Bunny ~ You have no idea how great that makes me feel!!!! I know...I know...the lemon I forewarned has been long-delayed...but I just have to make it right...and maybe work up my nerve a little...lol...it won't be in the next chapter...but I promise it will be in either the 8th or 9th....lol...probably the latter....

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